This study examines ideas of purpose in undergraduate engineering education by drawing on John Dewey’s conception of “Vocation of Life” and the more recent conception of “Twenty-First Century Skills.” Through a single-site case study and utilizing the constant comparative method, this study produced a set of student learning outcomes the faculty at “Oxbow College” describe for their disciplinary teaching that includes technical, professional, and personal skills. The faculty also described a set of department, school, and national level (i.e. ABET accreditation) contexts that impacted their conceptions. This study is set within a broader landscape of attainment issues in STEM education, and engineering specifically, including: 1) student interest in an engineering education; 2) persistence in engineering education for all students; 3) attainment of engineering degrees by a diverse set of students representing the broader national population. Addressing these challenges is imperative because engineering remains of great importance to the United States’ position of technical authority in the world though the United States confers a significantly lower proportion of bachelors degrees in science and engineering compared with other industrialized nations. Compounding this challenge is the need to broaden engineering education to include non-technical skills without sacrificing technical rigor. Most noteworthy in the findings of this study, these faculty speak directly to a set of student learning outcomes including technical and non-technical (professional and personal) skills in their disciplinary engineering courses. In doing so, they are expanding the idea of what an engineering education does and what it intends to do. The purpose of an undergraduate engineering education at Oxbow College, as described by faculty, is to prepare students for all aspects of their lives after graduation. This study provides insight into what these engineering faculty perceive as important in their courses, demonstrating a shift away from the historical divide between professional and liberal education as well as providing an example of the broadening of student learning outcomes – which has implications for calculating the return on investment of a college education. By emphasizing more than just their disciplinary content, these faculty are reflecting a larger societal change regarding the purpose of higher education.

The purpose of this thesis is to provide the California State University, San Bernardino, Department of Computer Science with an analysis and recommended solution to improving the software development process.

Visual experience is a powerful pedagogic tool. Extensive use of experimental studies prior to design and construction has made conceptualization of complex structures possible. Experiments on reduced-scale structures and specimens are also vital tools for teaching structural mechanics. As such, the Department of Civil Engineering at Virginia Tech has acquired a new apparatus for use as an educational demonstration tool in the area of structural mechanics. This work presents the results of a detailed study on the performance of this device as related to its accuracy and operation. To fulfill such objectives, two structural models (a continuous beam and a portal frame) were extensively tested under several loading and support configurations. The models were analysed using STRUDL as well as a computer program developed by the author. The comparison of the results (deformations) obtained in the two phases of the study have indicated that the apparatus is reasonably accurate to meet the requirements of a structural teaching model and adapting to a variety of structural models. / Master of Science / incomplete_metadata

Submitted in fulfillment for the Master of Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering and Surveying, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2015. / Promulgation of the Higher Education Qualifications Framework (HEQF) tasks the Council for Higher Education (CHE), South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) and Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) and standards generating bodies (Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA)) with guiding institutions through the implementation of the new framework. Implementation is through a phased approach spanning a five-year period beginning in January 2011 and with anticipated culmination in December 2014. As the Higher Education Framework Handbook (CHE 2011:2) states: ‘all existing institutions, public and private, offering existing and previously accredited higher education programmes will be impacted upon by this process in some manner or form, whether it be through a minor name change or a complete renewal of the programme content.’ Consequently, universities of technology (UoT’s) have embarked on a curriculum renewal process and the Civil Engineering Department of Durban University of Technology (DUT) is no different. It is within this context of participation and multiple contributory environments of different role-players that this study was founded. This research explored the Civil Engineering industry’s involvement in the curriculum renewal at DUT with the intention of understanding its contribution and influence in the renewal process and particularly in terms of curriculum design. The scope of the study was restricted to DUT Civil Engineering Department and their graduates, with subjects selected from a convenience sample of DUT Civil Engineering Department’s database of employers that have in the past and presently employ DUT graduates and/ or Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) students. The sample constituted organisations from the contracting, consulting and para-statal fields of employment. A questionnaire was designed containing both open-ended questions and rating scales that explored and probed the Civil Engineering industry level of involvement in the curriculum and curriculum renewal activities at DUT. In addition, interviews were conducted with seasoned Civil Engineering staff that have interacted with industry at various levels to gain their view of industry’s involvement with design of the Civil Engineering curriculum. Data from both questionnaires and interviewees overwhelmingly suggested that industry is not directly involved with the curriculum renewal currently underway at DUT, some respondents only gathered that such an activity was taking place through the medium of the questionnaire. This suggests that the resultant curriculum will be void of much industry engagement and influence. The nature of engagement that does occur is largely through the utilisation of DUT graduates or WIL students. Engagement occurs most commonly when curriculum issues are raised by staff at interviews of employers during WIL, suggesting that the nature of association with DUT is limited to employment of students or graduates. It is inferred that industry has very little direct input into the curriculum. DUT Advisory Board is considerably under-utilised for its intended purpose of engaging industry on curriculum issues, and its existence is unfamiliar to industry at large. As much as the Advisory Board is the most appropriate avenue to discuss curriculum issues, it has limitations in that its function is not entirely realised. The data generated also resoundingly suggests that industry is fully supportive of an inclusive participation process. Data further suggest that industry genuinely wants to be involved in curriculum discussions, and decisions for reasons ranging from participating to create more relevant course content, to contributing to creation of graduates with more appropriate employability attributes. Participants from industry further intimated that their role remains for on-site experiential learning: they provide the working knowledge to complement the academic knowledge provided by DUT. They also consider themselves to be providers of other facets that contribute to a holistic graduate, and assume further roles such as those of mentors and supervisors. The likely outcomes of their influence would be rapid engagement of graduates within the Civil Engineering field. A symbiotic relationship therefore becomes apparent between DUT and industry, where with more input into the curriculum by industry; a more work- orientated graduate is produced to better serve the needs of industry. The following recommendations emerge from the findings of this study: Since most of industry’s engagement occurs during WIL interviews, it would be prudent if a generic curriculum- based questionnaire is devised. This should be filled in by employers during student WIL visitations by staff in addition to the existing questionnaire. In doing so DUT would be proactive in literally ‘taking curriculum issues to them’. The DUT Civil Engineering Department should target those companies that have an interest in making a concerted effort by enlisting them onto the Advisory Board. From an institutional perspective DUT should be more proactive and advertise the existence of such an entity, created solely for curriculum discussions with the public, and particularly with industry. Assessments, course content and the project component of the programme generated considerable comments from industry that the Civil Engineering Department could take into consideration during the curriculum renewal process.

Typescript. / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Faculty of Engineering. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 133-141)

A theoretical argument is presented to suggest that engineering curriculum be designed to develop social capital. Additionally, the value of social capital in the retention of students in the College of Engineering, and the development, role, and value of social capital in an electrical engineering laboratory is evaluated. Data collected includes participant observations, informal and formal student interviews, and a researcher-designed survey. Social capital consists of interaction among individuals (networks), social rules that encourage interactions such as trust and reciprocity (norms), and the value of these networks and norms to the individual and the group. A large body of evidence suggests that social capital is valuable in terms of retention and multiple measures of academic achievement. The importance of social capital in retention was verified by students that have left engineering and those that remain, in terms of interactions with peers, teaching assistants, and engineering faculty; and a lack of sense of community in freshman engineering courses. Students that have left engineering differed in their perceptions of social capital from those that remain in their frustrations with teaching methods that encourage little discussion or opportunities to ask questions about assumptions or approaches. The open-ended nature of laboratory assignments, extensive required troubleshooting, and lack of specific directions from the teaching assistants were found to encourage the development of social capital in the laboratory setting. Degree centrality, a network measure of social capital as the number of ties an individual has within a social network, was found to be positively correlated with laboratory grade. Student perceptions of the importance of interactions with other students on success in the laboratory setting has a negative model effect on academic achievement in the laboratory. In contrast, student perceptions of the quality of interactions with teaching assistants has a positive effect on measures of academic achievement. The results suggest that social capital is more important to some students than others in terms of retention and academic achievement. Recommendations are made to identify students requiring social capital to be successful, and to provide opportunities for these students to develop social capital. / Graduation date: 2005

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Thesis (MTech (Education))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2005 / The purpose of this research was to investigate service-learning opportunities and possible collaboration between higher education students and lecturers located in the department of the Built Environment and the school community in a project that involved the building of a school hall. The school halls are generally needed as they accommodate a wide range of school and community activities and serve as bridges that link the school and the wider public. The study also attempted to develop a framework to guide the implementation of service-learning projects in third-year courses of the National Diploma: Building which include quantity surveying, construction technology and construction management. The study made use of literature that describes the civic roles and social responsibilities of higher education in general and the expected role of higher education in socio-economic development of the South African communities in particular. Literature on the need for increased participation, collaboration, partnership formation and development of service-learning programmes in order to address the socio-economic and educational developmental needs of both communities and students was also consulted. Reference was also made to literature on building projects and the building process. The researcher used qualitative approaches and data production methods to get information from the school teachers, learners, students and lecturers through interviews in order to establish if the participants were willing to work together in the school building project and how they thought the school and the higher education institution could benefit from such collaboration. An observation schedule and photographs were also used to gather information relating to the process of building a school hall.

Many explanations for why students leave engineering programs fail to look more closely at unique help-seeking cultural norms of first-generation (“first-gen”) students that tend to conflict with help-seeking cultural norms of undergraduate engineering programs. “First-gen” in this study applies to students with neither parent nor guardian holding a four-year bachelor’s degree, while “continuing-gen” applies to continuing-generation students with at least one parent holding a bachelor’s degree. Although statistical odds are stacked against many first-gens, some of these individuals persevere through rigorous engineering programs using effective help-seeking strategies. This mixed methods study explores what patterns in help-seeking beliefs and behaviors may be specific to Black first-gen undergraduates relative to other first-gen and continuing-gen peers. This study also seeks to understand the help-seeking experiences of Black first-gen engineering undergraduates that contribute to the observed pattern differences among demographics. Additionally, this study aims to understand how successful help-seeking strategies and experiences of Black first-gens allow them to persevere in engineering. Likert scale questionnaire responses revealed that the Black first-gens in this study were less comfortable seeking academic help from faculty relative to other first-gen and continuing-gen peers. Qualitative interviews revealed that a primary reason for this discomfort stemmed from faculty behaviors that discouraged help-seeking attempts such as making demeaning comments, singling out Black students in class, impatience during office hours, no regard for class comprehension, and a lack of personal connection. The Black first-gens in this study managed to persevere in engineering by turning to religious faith and community for support, having fictive kin relationships with personable faculty, and adopting a mix of independent and interdependent norms within their study groups. These findings help inform institutions about improving the help-seeking experiences of Black first-gen engineering undergraduates. Additionally, this research provides useful guidance to other Black first-gen students about effective help-seeking strategies in engineering.